58 BULLETIN 123, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



already has white sauce with it, reduce it with milk to right con- 

 sistency, season, heat and strain, and the soup is ready. 



A puree is halfway between a cream soup and mashed vegetables ; 

 it is sometimes a thick soup, but oftener strained vegetables made 

 soft with milk or stock and butter, and served with meats. 



The derivation of the word — something to be eaten with salt — 

 shows its original simplicity. Xow the term is applied to combi- 

 nations of all sorts of food materials that may be served cold with 

 a dressing but more particularly to those which are dressed with 

 oil (or other fat) and vinegar (or other acid, as lemon juice), 

 salt, and other seasoning. The young tips or tender leaves of cer- 

 tain plants, as lettuce, dandelion, etc., are especially suited to this 

 purpose. (See Lesson II.) 



SCALLOPS. 



These consist of cooked vegetables with cream sauce or milk, sea- 

 soned, covered with buttered crumbs, and browned in the oven. The 

 proportion and thickness of sauce varies with the dryness of the 

 vegetable, usually half as much sauce as vegetable in the case of 

 cabbage or onions. 



FRITTERS. 



Many vegetables, partially cooked, may be dipped in batter and 

 fried in deep fat, thus giving variet}^ and adding material of a dif- 

 ferent type from their constituents. This may be seen by looking 

 up fritters in any large cookbook. Among the vegetables best 

 adapted to this process are cauliflower, celery, corn, okra, and salsify. 



CROQUETTES. 



These may be made from mashed vegetables held together with a 

 small proportion of beaten egg or from chopped, cooked vegetables 

 combined with a thick cream sauce. There is justification for the 

 additional time required for this process, when left overs can be 

 thus used economically or when variety is needed. From the potato 

 cake or croquette it is but a short step to a potato crust for a meat 

 pie or from the corn fritters to the tortilla, and thus to doughs. 



EXERCISES, LESSON XI. 



Materials needed. — Take any available vegetables not previously used in the 

 practice lesson and prepare them in any of the standard forms. 



Use any formula proved successful for some vegetable and substitute another 

 vegetable with due variation in other ingredients to adapt the formula to the 

 composition of the substitute. 



For example, a cream soup may be made with any cooked and strained 

 vegetable pulp, but if in one case it is potato with much starch and little flavor 



